Cheryl, I'm not really that tense, infact, when I go to the toilet I relax (despite the pain) I just want it over as quickly as possible but this never happens, I end up spending about 20-30 minutes in there each time I have a BM, it's because I don't feel empty afterwards and the burning sensation just makes things worse, does anyone else feel like they haven't completely finished after BM?

I had pelvic floor dysfunction and then took the pelvic floor retraining class at Mayos. That is why I asked about being relaxed. I think taking 20-30 minutes for a BM is rather long! (and not good for the rectal muscles) :roll:

Yogurt - nothing ever constipated me since I do not tend to constipate - but still - I was on "fissure diet" 100 % and 100% of the time (not that it helped though LMAO) BUT - if you want to be on the safe side - you can mix some fresh fruits in : ))) !!!! Or prune preserve - yum yummmm ; ) OR apricot preserve - even more yummmmm LOL
Neuropathic - I was laughing about your sinus problems since it is exactly what I have now ha ha haaaa- 3 weeks of antibiotics and not MUCH improvement . "Gunk" is gone but they drip and some blood is there - I guess at this point it is chronic . I now take Flonase since I need to calm down inflammation and it "almost" works - BUT - with pollen season just starting - we are doomed Also - I was living off veggi-soups LMAO - that was my staple diet during fissure times...
Steve- tension of the body and tension of the anus are the 2 completely separate things. You can be relaxed as a dead earthworm but still have tense anus ! It has nothing to do with each other whatever people tell you ! And who could relax in any way with such a pain - one would need to have lobotomy OR heavy sedation. Some people are naturally tight in that area - anus is smaller then it should be or it is stronger than it should be and for those LIS or dilation are the only help - although I would choose LIS oved dilation any day .
BUT - look at the bright side - you have periods of day with no pain
:D :D :D - I had NONE . My pain was 24/7 - alternating with excruciating pain during pooping and burning and dull pain level 7 after pooping until next pooping ( and I went 4-5 times a day ). So...
Stay strong ; ))) !!!

^ LOL Fiss yeah the sinus problems suck. Mine are chronic now too. Sometimes I don't notice it at all, and sometimes I feel like there's a cotton farm stuffing up my nose and my face. Antibiotics took the symptoms down a notch but definitely didn't resolve them. Since they either directly or indirectly led to my fissure, I don't think I'll ever take antibiotics again unless I absolutely have to!
When my sinusitis gets real bad, I use Mucinex and a little nasal irrigation (either a neti pot or Neil Med's Sinus Rinse Bottle) and that usually helps for at least a few hours.
And yeah I've been eating veggie soup for so long now it just feels normal. Every meal of every day is veggie soup. The only non veggie soup item I've been eating lately is sushi since that doesn't make my poop hard :) You're exactly where I want to be -- fissure free and eating normal things again. Those days seem like so long ago. What gives me some hope is that after the hell you've been there, you came out okay, so maybe there's some way to eventually get back to normal!

LOL @ the veggie soup, it's become an everyday necessity for me too, along with wholemeal foods and boiled/steamed veg, can't imagine not eating like this at the moment, everything else is on the back burner and will be staying there until i'm completely fissure and rectal pain free, i've forgotten what it's like to go to the toilet normally as there's always been this burning pain, followed by a dull ache which lasts all day/night, not only that but it feels like something is stuck inside my rectum, very uncomfortable.

Haha I'm eating some for lunch right now. And in a few hours I will eat some more of the same for dinner!
Once you get used to eating it all the time it's actually not too bad since you kind of forget what actual flavor tastes like. I mustered up the courage to eat a french fry a few weeks ago and my mouth was ready to have an orgasm, it was sooooo good. Sorry if that's kind of graphic but it's the only way to accurately convey what it was like :)
One bad thing I'll say about eating veggie soup all the time is that I can't stop passing gas I'm always worried that a coworker will come into my office right after some veggie soup wind decides it needs to exit the premises It's definitely not the kind of odorless gas that just vanishes right away either hahahaha...
So anyway it's been a few days with the yogurt now Steve, any difference? Has it made the poops meaner, nicer, or no difference?

NG,
And I used to watch my diet religiously and lately have been eating some pretty "bad" things, so there is always hope!!

Thanks Cheryl, it always encourages me a bit to read about former fissure victims (I think this is a more apt description than "patients") post about eating junky foods haha :) :) It seems that every time I think things are finally improving, I start getting looser with my diet and eating a wider variety of foods, and then BAM I'm back at square one out of nowhere. But then there are folks like yourself, Fiss, Kim, and others who have recovered nearly all the way after being even worse off, so you're right, there indeed must be some hope!

Hi NG, The yogurts seem to make me poop more so i've cut down a bit on them, the main thing is that they don't constipate me which I was worried about. I just want to be able to eat virtually anything like I once used to, seems such a long long time ago that I indulged in junk food, the mere thought of having a KFC for instance, makes my mouth water in anticipation...

Bwhahahaha yeah KFC is a long lost ambrosia for me too. So have you given up beer yet due to the fissure :) That's my other long lost love since my fissure adventure began...